Ten Key Competencies of Personal Productivity

Mike M. was a senior manager for one of my large corporate clients, but you wouldn't know he was on the fast track if you looked at his office. He worked long hours, felt pressured, and was always playing catch up. Mike was unresponsive to requests and missed key deadlines. His company's upper management had reached the end of its patience, so I was called in to help Mike with his productivity. It didn't occur to him that he could lose his job; he thought his past successes would carry him through. It took us three months to turn a potential disaster into a triumph. It's three years later, and Mike still sends me a thank you note each year on the anniversary of our turnaround sessions.

This situation is not uncommon. I work with hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals every year. My hands-on coaching experience-plus thousands of interviews and email surveys-has enabled me to identify the ten main factors affecting personal productivity in the workplace. The first letter of each factor spells the word "PRODUCTIVE":

1. P reparation - This competency relates to how well you've planned and laid the foundation for your daily activities. If you excel in this competency, you are PROACTIVE, rather than REACTIVE. Most people don't have well-articulated goals. Perhaps you don't know how to set them. Perhaps writing goals down seems like too much effort, or you simply haven't taken the time to write them. It's worth the work to create a plan, because the goals you set will provide direction for your life and focus your activities. You must translate your lofty, long-term goals into actionable tasks you can work on today.
   
   
2. R eduction - This competency has to do with how well you eliminate time wasters in your daily activities. If you excel in this competency, you are ASSERTIVE, rather than PASSIVE in allowing people to dictate your schedule. With a finite amount of time available, if you wanted to get more done, the temptation is to go faster and work more hours. However, productivity is not about squeezing more into your days. You must reduce "speed bumps"-things that waste your time. Speed bumps exist at organizational, departmental, and individual levels. They could include administration, too many meetings, unnecessary levels of bureaucracy, too much red tape, or unclear priorities. YOU can also be a speed bump-the causal factor in wasting precious time. You must eliminate speed bumps, so you can create the space to accomplish the important.
   
   
3. O rder - This competency relates to your level of organization. If you excel in this competency, you have SYSTEMS, rather than PILES. You can find what you want, when you want it, in thirty seconds or less. How well do you control the paper, email, reading material, and inputs into and out of your office? Order is your ability to sort, filter, and process this information effectively. It's how tidy your work areas look, inside and out. Being organized will give you more control over your life and time. You must find the time and the self-control to start achieving more of the things you want to do through proper systems.
   
   
4. D iscipline - This competency refers to your ability to maintain consistent, productive behavior. If you excel in this competency, you complete what you MUST do, rather than what you WANT to do. Are you persistent in completing your high priority tasks, without getting sidelined by menial activities? Do you put your nose to the grindstone each day, or do you only work hard when you're in the mood? Do you have a set of "rules" for yourself that govern your behavior and activity? Everyone has an "off day." But if you're self-disciplined, you exhibit consistent focus in your day-to-day work. Learn to do what needs to be done and exercise restraint over your own impulses, emotions, and desires. Sometimes working on the right thing doesn't mean doing the fun thing. You must focus on high-value output, as defined by your job requirements, and learn to stop procrastinating.
   
   
5. U nease - This competency refers to your ability to handle stress well, so that it doesn't impact your performance and productivity. If you excel in this competency, you focus on VALUE, rather than VELOCITY. You're not running around in a harried frenzy all the time. According to nationwide office productivity study conducted by Xerox and Harris Interactive in 2003, most people work over 60 hours a week total, and over 33 percent work on weekends. The "faster, cheaper, do more with nothing" approach has created a workplace where workers are always in high gear. This work style reduces productivity and increases stress. Stress is also a known factor in 70 percent of all diseases, so people must learn to reduce tension. You must be familiar with stress-reduction strategies, so you can recover when pushed to the limit every day.
   
   
6. C oncentration - This competency refers to your ability to stay on target and focus on the task at hand. If you excel in this competency, you are PURPOSEFUL, rather than DISTRACTED. As a child, I remember sitting for hours at a time, absorbed in my favorite books. My mother would enter the living room asking, "Didn't you hear me call you?" I would look at her, confused, as I came back to reality, and answer honestly, "No, mommy I didn't." And that was the complete truth! That level of concentration is very hard to achieve today. With noise, interruptions, instant messages, and email, so many things competing for our attention in the workplace that it's often very difficult to concentrate. You must be able to achieve a state of "flow" and work without breaking focus.
   
   
7. T ime Mastery - This competency relates to how well you manage your activities throughout the day. If you excel in this competency, you focus on QUALITY of your activities, rather than the QUANTITY. Some people spend more time planning their vacations than their time. With good time management comes the rewards of results, recognition, free time, clarify, and focus. Effective time management brings purpose in life, structure to your day, direction, reduced frustration, and a sense of accomplishment. In addition, it reduces stress, since it gives you much more control over your day. You must run your life, rather than allowing your life to run you.
   
   
8. I nformation Management - This competency relates to how well you handle all the information coming at you. If you excel in this competency, you are DECISIVE, rather than TENTATIVE. We've become dependent upon computers, email, voicemail, the Internet, Blackberries, PDAs, cell phones, and pagers. These devices connect us to the world of work. Today, you must be technologically savvy and make choices quickly. You also must choose the best method and medium of communication for the particular message you want to convey. Technology can undoubtedly improve your productivity, but it can make you LESS productive if you're not careful. You must use the latest technologies to your advantage, without letting technology take advantage of you.
   
   
9. V itality - This competency refers to your wellness. If you excel in this competency, you TAKE CARE of yourself, rather than IGNORING your physiological needs. How healthy are you? How much energy do you have throughout the day to accomplish the things you want to do? Do you sleep enough? You have the potential to dramatically impact our productivity by paying closer attention to our behaviors around health. In other words, we eat too much, drink too much, don't exercise enough, work too much, and don't sleep enough. No wonder some people can't be productive! Some studies suggest that upwards of 70 percent of doctor visits are prompted by our own choices in these areas. You must practice proper self-care, so that are physically capable of performing at your matchless best.
   
   
10. E quilibrium - This competency refers to the proper mix of activities in your life. If you excel in this competency, you feel BALANCED, rather than UNBALANCED. Balance is tough to achieve, because you have a real commitment to your job and to your family. You love your work life and your personal lives, often with equal vigor, and don't want to give either one up. Professionals find it difficult to participate fully in one arena without sacrificing the other, but successful people know high performance depends on both personal satisfaction and professional achievement. You must practice lifestyle tactics and make the proper choices that help you to work at a realistic level.

The more solidly you feel you demonstrate each one of these competencies, the better the chances that your habits support personal productivity:

• If you said a resounding, "That's me!" after each competency, you're probably a Productivity PRO!
• If you can identify with some but not all of the traits, you may be a "middle of the road" employee, which means you're not the most productive person, but you're not the worst. Ouch! Who wants to be average? Really work on kicking it up a notch!
• If you just shook your head, select one competency every three weeks and work on systematically improving your productivity. If you are low in a particular area, reading the corresponding chapter in my book Leave the Office Earlier will give you specific tools and exercises to improve in that competency.
  

Make it a productive day! ™

WHEN to Fire Problem Employees. Entrepreneur - USA. ...Before considering the legal, emotional and productivity ramifications of termination, you should try to find ways to improve that employee's performance. -more-

TWEAKING Your Tech Etiquette. Forbes - USA. Companies ask her more and more to address the misuse of the handhelds and laptops that are supposed to improve employee productivity. -more-

CRUNCHED For Time? Here Are Some Clock Watchin' Tips. Queens Chronicle - Rego Park, NY, USA. One of the most common reasons people abandon their time-management systems is because they begin to feel overwhelmed. -more-

The 1st Annual Productivity Pro® Summit
with Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, The Productivity Pro®
(in person)

Want to leave the office earlier? Would you like to be able to schedule your day in an uncontrollable workplace? Do you want to be able to find any piece of information in thirty seconds or less? Would you like to reduce interruptions? Is your email inbox overflowing? Would you like to be able to concentrate in a distracting environment? Do you need a greater balance in your life? Would you like to make the best use of every minute, every day? Do you never seem to be able to get through your to-do list? Would you like to lower your stress level? If you want to build any of these skills, then you need to join Laura for an intensive two-day workshop on mastering your personal productivity!

Workshop Description

While other "experts" provide training on single topics like stress management, time management, and getting organized, this is the first workshop to neatly and simply summarize the most important personal productivity factors into one course. Geared for busy, overloaded employees, this training is the authority on how to increase output without increasing effort. Get to the heart of why you experience logjams at work-and abolish them once and for all! This workshop explores the ten key factors that improve output, lower stress, and save time in today's workplace. The main purpose is to teach you how to more productive and effective during the day, so you can stop working late hours, increase your results, and lead a more balanced life!

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 7, and Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: The Bridge Center, Lone Tree, Colorado
Nearest Airport: Denver International Airport
Information: Call 303-471-7401 or email John@TheProductivityPro.com.

Tuition: Your investment for this intensive two-day workshop is only $295 per participant or $245 when enrolling three or more individuals for the same workshop.

Registration: On-line registration is preferred. Or you can download, print and fax the enrollment form (PDF) to 303-471-7402 with credit card information. You can also mail a check made out to The Productivity Pro® to 9948 S. Cottoncreek Drive, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130. You will receive a written confirmation of your enrollment.

Objectives:

• Discuss the Causes of Overload in the Workplace
• Find Out if You Are a Workaholic
• Discover Your Energy Prime Times
• Learn Why Multi-Tasking is Unproductive
• Uncover the Most Important Ten Minutes of the Day
• Discover Little Known MS Outlook Tricks That Will Amaze You
• Track Pending Items Without Piles
• Determine if Your Stress Level is Affecting Your Productivity
• Discover the Importance of Diet, Exercise, Quiet, Leisure, and Sleep
• Sort, Process, and Filter the Vast Amounts of Information From Others
• Control and Prevent Unimportant Interruptions From Others
• Speed up Decision-Making Processes in Your Group
• Recognize and Relate to Different Work Process Styles of Coworkers
• Schedule Your Day in an Uncontrollable Environment
• Focus on Highest Value Activities and Eliminate Unnecessary Activities
• Eliminate Crisis Management Caused by Coworkers
• Create Systems and Processes for Repetitive Tasks
• Reduce Time Spent in Trivial Meetings
• Discuss a Multitude of Innovative Ways to "Create" Time
• Establish Boundaries Necessary to Regain Control of Your Workday

Who Should Attend
Executives, managers, sales representatives, support staff, and other professionals who work long hours and feel overwhelmed by work volume, information, and projects.

Participant Materials
You will receive the text Leave the Office Earlier (written by Laura Stack and published by Broadway Books) and a 100-page workbook for use as a job aid and reference manual.

No Substitution or Cancellation Fees
Participant substitutions are permitted at any time prior to the workshop. If cancellation occurs ten or more business days prior to the workshop, a full refund is available. If you cancel fewer than ten business days prior to the workshop, we will gladly issue a full credit for future public or in-house workshops.

Other Information:

• This will be a very interactive, roll-up-your-sleeves, learn new skills workshop. You will be bringing a pile of paper you don't know what to do with, your time management system, a list of your files, and a sample weekly schedule.
• You must agree to complete the pre-work prior to attending, which you will receive after registration. You will be completing a time log, some reading, and the 100-point Productivity Quotient (PQ) assessment.
• To keep costs down and accommodate dietary needs, participants will purchase their own meals. Beverages will be provided.
• You will walk away with your own self-improvement action plan.
• Format includes lecture, small group, large group, role-play, individual exercises, partnering work, and quizzes.
• Dress is business casual. We recommend you bring a sweater or light jacket due to room temperature fluctuations.